Hand in Glove
by Flamebyrd
Summary: In which Tsuzuki and Hisoka investigate a case. With added Subaru.


THIS IS A DRAFT. Suggestions for improvement appreciated.  
  
_Notes: Due to the Tokyo Babylon timeline being somewhat static (can't move it forwards due to that whole 1999 thing) I've taken the liberty of shifting YnM 6-7 years back. This all takes place in about 1989, some time before Tokyo Babylon starts. (So there's no Seishirou. Sorry.) As far as Yami no Matsuei is concerned, this takes place sometime after the Devil's Trill arc but before the King of Swords arc.  
  
That said, the crossover aspect of this story isn't the important bit. It's Yami no Matsuei based and case-centric. Essentially it's an experiment in writing an occult mystery - and in getting the hang of the YnM crew just in case I should ever want to do something else with them. You never know._  
  
**Hand in Glove (working title)  
**  
"Ne, Hisoka, where are we going?"   
  
Hisoka handed his partner the itinerary irritably.   
  
"Hisoka, this is an office block," said Tsuzuki, with a confused look. He unfolded the paper and read through it.  
  
"If you'd been paying attention and not worrying about the food budget," said Hisoka with a long-suffering sigh, "you'd know the victim died mysteriously _in his office_. Talking to the secretary."  
  
"I remember the situation," protested Tsuzuki, wounded. "But I thought we were going to his house first."  
  
"Tsuzuki, where do we always go first in a case like this?"  
  
Tsuzuki blinked. "Um..."  
  
Hisoka sighed again. "The place of death. Idiot."  
  
Their cover story was that they were a private investigation agency hired by some unnamed agency to investigate the case. All dressed up, Hisoka hoped to pass for eighteen. Old enough to be considered a "new recruit", at the very least.  
  
The building was roped off with police tape, but there was nobody around to check their identity. They made their way up the stairs to the office marked 'Katsuki Kazuhiko'. After a few moments poking around a perfectly ordinary office, they decided to interview the secretary. A quick phonecall proved her to be at home, and she agreed to be questioned without much protest.   
  
The two shinigami met the woman at a nearby cafe. Her story was short and went straight to the point. Hisoka had the distinct feeling there was no love lost between the secretary and her boss. "It was nine o'clock in the morning. I was just outlining his appointments for the day when he suddenly collapsed. I called his name a few times, but he didn't respond. After a few minutes, I walked over and shook him. When he didn't respond, I checked his pulse. Feeling nothing, I called the ambulance."  
  
"He hadn't shown any signs of pain or distress prior to that?"  
  
The woman shook her head.  
  
"Were you fond of the deceased?"  
  
"Do you mean, did I want him dead? No. Of course not. As a matter of fact," she continued, seeing Tsuzuki preparing to protest, "I wasn't very fond of him. As bosses go, he was the classic sleazeball. But I wouldn't want to murder him for it."  
  
"Of course not," said Tsuzuki. "Can you think of anybody else that may have wanted him dead?"  
  
The secretary shook her head. "He was the type of man that attracted mild dislike, not outright hatred." That was the truth. She hadn't wanted him dead.  
  
"He seemed perfectly normal on the morning of the... accident?"  
  
"Yes," she said, shortly. She put her empty cup down, glanced at the clock on the wall and fidgeted uncomfortably.  
  
"I see," said Hisoka, taking the hint. He closed his clipboard and glanced at Tsuzuki. The other shinigami quickly finished up his tea and gave the cakes cabinet a wistful look. Hisoka firmly took the bill to the counter and paid it.  
  
"Thank you for your time!" said Tsuzuki, with a swift bow. Hisoka followed in kind. "Where to now?" asked the elder shinigami.  
  
"I would say, the wife."  
  
"Right. We'll be at her house, so how about you make yourself inconspicuous and I'll ask the questions?"  
  
Hisoka nodded.  
  
--  
  
"I'm a private investigator," said Tsuzuki, handing over his card. "I'm investigating the death of your husband," he continued, delicately.  
  
"Oh," said Katsuki Mayumi. She glanced behind him. "And you?"  
  
Hisoka looked up. "I'm with him," he said, hiding his surprise. If she could see him, she must have very high spiritual power.  
  
"He's doing work experience with us," explained Tsuzuki.  
  
"I see," said Mayumi. "Well, come in," she added, hesitantly.  
  
The two shinigami removed their shoes at the door and followed the woman inside.  
  
"How long had you been married?" asked Tsuzuki, sympathetically.  
  
"Five years," said the wife. "I loved him very much," she continued, although Hisoka felt it was more because she felt it was needed than for any true feeling.  
  
"Do you have any idea--"  
  
"I'm sorry," interrupted Mayumi, in tearful tones. "I can't really think of anything that could help you. My husband had no medical history, nothing that could cause sudden death..." She wasn't lying. But nevertheless Hisoka felt she wasn't telling the whole truth.  
  
"Was a very popular man?" asked Tsuzuki, not certain quite how one dealt with a woman who looked like she could burst into tears at any moment. "Can you think of anybody that may want him dead?"  
  
She shook her head. "He wasn't unpopular, although he didn't have many close friends. Just one, really."  
  
A friend could be a useful source of information. "Can we have his name and address?"  
  
She scribbled a name and apartment number on a piece of paper. "That's him, but I don't know if he's in town. I haven't heard from him since my husband died."  
  
The woman _was _lying now. Hisoka wondered why.  
  
She sniffled pitifully. "I'm sorry. I can't... please excuse me." She dashed off with a kerchief in hand. Her grief was real, but tinged with an inexplicable bitterness.  
  
Several minutes later, the woman returned. "I'm sorry. I think you had better go."  
  
Tsuzuki nodded sympathetically. "We're very sorry to have bothered you."  
  
Once outside in the daylight again, they took a few moments to compare notes.   
  
"She saw me," commented Hisoka. "What do you think of that?"   
  
"She has power, but it's untrained. That would be my conclusion."  
  
Hisoka nodded. Still, if she had the power... It wouldn't be good to dismiss her out of hand.  
  
"I think we should go see Sawaki-san now," said Tsuzuki, tapping a finger on his clipboard.   
  
Hisoka nodded.  
  
--  
  
The Sawaki apartment was also marked off by police tape. The two shinigami exchanged a look. "Dead, do you think?"   
  
"It can't have been anything out of the ordinary, or we would have known about it." It was a sign of their position, reflected Hisoka, that even murder could be thought of as ordinary if it didn't involve the occult in any way.  
  
"Hello?" called Tsuzuki, tapping on the doorjam. The door was slightly ajar.  
  
Nobody responded, but they could hear the faint sound of voices from within.  
  
Exchanging another look with Hisoka, Tsuzuki gently pushed the door open.  
  
"Hello?" he asked again. "Is there anybody here?"  
  
Walking into what appeared to be the living room, they startled a dark-haired boy kneeling on the floor. "Ah!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and bowing swiftly. "I'm sorry!" He brushed his hair pack from his forehead with a gloved hand.  
  
The two shinigami blinked at him. Hisoka recovered his tongue first. "No, we're the ones intruding."  
  
The boy blushed in acute embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I mean... my sister tells me I apologise too much."  
  
Not knowing quite what to say to that, Hisoka soldiered on with his questioning. "Do you live here?"  
  
The boy shook his head. "I'm here on request of Sawaki-san."  
  
Tsuzuki was looking at the floor, which was scattered with a few pieces of paper. "_Onmyouji_?" he said, although it was more of a statement than a question.  
  
"_Hai!_" said the boy, pleased. "I'm Sumeragi Subaru. Sawaki-san wanted me to make sure her husband had passed on properly."  
  
"Sawaki Kazuto is dead, then?" said Hisoka, as the name clicked into place.  
  
Sumeragi Subaru nodded. "I'm sorry. Did you want to speak to him?" he asked, genuinely apologetic.  
  
Hisoka nodded. "How did he die?"  
  
Subaru looked uncomfortable. "I think... he was murdered."  
  
Tsuzuki's head whipped up. "Did you find anything here? Magically, I mean?"  
  
"No," said the boy. "There's nothing here at all. Sawaki-san must have been mistaken."  
  
"Sawaki's wife asked you to come, then?"  
  
Subaru nodded. "She was terrified that her husband's ghost was hanging around. Said she heard noises in the night. So she called me - I do exorcisms and things." He seemed more confident, now that he was talking about his job.  
  
"Oh!" exclaimed Tsuzuki. "We're sorry for interrupting you, I know how complicated exorcism spells can be," said Tsuzuki, while Hisoka did a quick mental inventory of the apartment.  
  
"You know onmyoujitsu?" asked Subaru, excitedly.  
  
Tsuzuki shook his head. "No," he said, simply. "But I've seen the spell performed before."  
  
"Oh." The boy seemed disappointed.   
  
Were gloves necessary for onmyoujitsu? Hisoka wondered.  
  
The room had been recently dusted for fingerprints, but that was all Hisoka could find that was out of the ordinary. He returned to Tsuzuki's side with a slight shake of his head to show he hadn't found anything interesting.  
  
The boy started packing up his bits and pieces. "I'm afraid Sawaki-san asked me to lock up when I left," he said.   
  
"That's okay," said Tsuzuki, cheerily. "We'll come back later. We'd like to speak to Sawaki-san. _Bai bai!_" He called, cheerfully. "Ne, come on, Hisoka."  
  
Hisoka rolled his eyes and followed obediently, shutting the door behind him. "The _onmyouji_ boy noticed something odd about us," he observed.  
  
Tsuzuki drooped. "Do you think we'll get into trouble?"  
  
Hisoka rolled his eyes again. "So where did you want to go?"  
  
"Mo~u, Hisoka, we're going to ask the Gushoshin about Sawaki-san, right?"  
  
--  
  
"Sawaki Kazuto," read Gushoshin, snr. "37 years old. Male. Japanese. Accountant. Died two days ago and the soul moved on in the usual manner. Nothing about the death seemed worth investigating." He briefly summarised the details of the case, and sent it off to print.  
  
Hisoka frowned. "Katsuki also died two days ago."  
  
"It could be coincidence," offered Tsuzuki, more because it had to be said than as a serious suggestion.  
  
Hisoka gave the printout a cursory glance, and then shoved it in his clipboard. "I don't think so. Thank you."  
  
"It's no problem. Was there anything else you wanted?"   
  
"Do you have anything on Sumeragi Subaru?" asked Tsuzuki, leaning casually on the side of the desk.  
  
The librarian typed rapidly. "Sumeragi Subaru. 15 years old. Male. Japanese. To the best of our knowledge, still alive."  
  
Tsuzuki nudged Hisoka. "He's younger than you are!"  
  
"Idiot," muttered Hisoka. "Anything else we should know?" he asked.  
  
"He's the thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan," said the Gushoshin. "Who, as you should know, are the traditional spiritual protectors of Japan."  
  
They both blinked at the picture on the screen. "Him?"  
  
"He must be very talented to be Clan Head at that age," said Hisoka.  
  
"Perhaps he's just the only one who can," mused Tsuzuki.  
  
The librarian flicked the monitor off and swung around to look at them. "If you meet him again, it can't hurt to explain what you're looking for and ask for his help. It's as much his duty as yours."   
  
Tsuzuki nodded. Together, the two shinigami walked off.  
  
Sawaki Kazuto had been shot by an unknown assailant in his home. His wallet and the wife's jewellery had been stolen, leading to the conclusion that this was a simple case of breaking-and-entering. That Sawaki had been home was simply coincidence - he had called in ill that morning.  
  
Hisoka wondered.   
  
"What do you think?" asked Tsuzuki, seeing him frown in thought.  
  
"I think somebody was probably covering for himself."  
  
"You think Sawaki was killed because he knew something about Katsuki's death?"  
  
Hisoka nodded.  
  
"I think it's time we spoke to his wife."  
  
--  
  
Sawaki Mika was a very beautiful woman. She was wearing black when she answered the door.  
  
Tsuzuki handed over his card. "I'm a private investigator investigating the death of Katsuki Kazuhiko. I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's okay."  
  
Hisoka made a few attention-getting gestures, but the woman didn't even glance at him. He breathed a sigh of relief, and turned his attention back to the conversation.  
  
The woman was wringing her hands. "I'm afraid to say that my husband was really the one who knew Katsuki-san, and he died two days ago."  
  
Tsuzuki assumed a distraught, apologetic expression. "I am terribly sorry to bring up the topic, but that's what we want to talk to you about." Hisoka rolled his eyes, thankful that the woman couldn't see him.  
  
Mika let him in and bustled into the kitchen to prepare tea. Once they were seated, Tsuzuki resumed his interrogation. "We think perhaps there was something connection between the death of your husband and that of Katsuki."  
  
"A connection?" said Mika. "Oh, no, I don't think so. My husband was.. the police say he was killed by a burglar. He just happened to be in the apartment at the wrong time."  
  
"Do they have any leads on the culprit?" asked Tsuzuki, while Hisoka walked around the room looking for anything that may help their case.  
  
Mika shook her head. "Nothing, they say." She turned simpering eyes on Tsuzuki. "But with you looking too, I begin to have some hope..."  
  
With some surprise, Hisoka realised she was trying to flirt with his partner.  
  
Tsuzuki began to look uncomfortable. "Um... Was your husband acting perfectly normally in the days before the... accident?"  
  
She nodded.   
  
"What were you doing that day?"  
  
"Well, Kazuto said he wasn't feeling too well that day, so he called in sick at work. I did my housework and then I went to do some grocery shopping. When I came home..." She began to cry, softly.  
  
Tsuzuki looked even more uncomfortable. He shot a look at Hisoka.  
  
"She probably wants you to hug her," muttered Hisoka, uncharitably. He wandered into the kitchen to doublecheck a few things. He opened the fridge as quietly as possible, and then the pantry. Satisfied, he walked back into the living room, where Tsuzuki was trying to calm the woman down.  
  
Hisoka found the rest of the interview boring and tedious, what with the woman's clumsy flirting and Tsuzuki's equally clumsy avoidance of her advances.  
  
Finally, they returned outside. "Well?" asked Tsuzuki.  
  
"She was lying through her teeth. She didn't go shopping yesterday at all."  
  
Tsuzuki stared at him. "What do you mean?"  
  
"The lie, I sensed. And the salmon in the fridge was dated too early to have been bought when she said she did, and too late to have been bought the week before."  
  
"Maybe she bought it on its own?"  
  
"Maybe. But then why was she lying?"  
  
Tsuzuki frowned. "Did you get the name of the fishmonger?"[1]  
  
Hisoka smiled. "Of course."  
  
--  
  
There were too many people in the supermarket. They crowded too close to Hisoka, and he could feel their petty, reaching minds... Desperate to be first in line, desperate to get the best specials first, desperate to get the best cut of meat for the best price per kilogram...  
  
Hisoka pushed his way out, through the crowds. He began to walk quickly, looking only to escape around the next corner.  
  
As he rounded the corner, he walked straight into somebody else.  
  
Both of them fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Picking himself off the ground, Hisoka readied an apology. "Ah, I'm sorry... Sumeragi-san?"  
  
The other person sat up, and blinked at him. "I... do I know you?" She seemed perplexed, but not at what he had called her.  
  
Hisoka stared at the... girl. "I, er..." He wondered what to say.  
  
The girl gave him a sudden, wicked smile. "I know! You mistook me for my brother, right?"  
  
"Your... brother?" said Hisoka, weakly.  
  
"He looks just like me, only, you know, boy-shaped." She nodded, wisely. "Oh, don't look so embarrassed! I mistook you for a girl at first, so we're even now!"  
  
Hisoka felt his cheeks grow hot.  
  
"Hokuto-chan!" came another, more familiar voice. "You shouldn't go running off like that!" He stopped, seeing Hisoka and bowed quickly. "Good afternoon."  
  
Hisoka returned the greeting.  
  
"I didn't get the chance to introduce myself properly yesterday, so..." Subaru started digging around in his pocket. Hisoka noted that he was still wearing gloves. "Here!" He presented Hisoka with a neatly pressed card.  
  
"Business cards, Subaru?" said his sister, amused. "How professional!"  
  
The boy blushed.  
  
Hisoka found his own card and handed it over. It gave the name of the 'agency', but not his own. "My name is Hisoka. I'm doing work experience at that place."  
  
Hokuto looked over her brother's shoulder. "A private detective agency? How cool!"  
  
"You're investigating Sawaki-san's death, then?"   
  
"Sort of," replied Hisoka. "It's complicated."  
  
"Well, if you, um, want my help for anything, just ask, okay?" continued Subaru, still faintly pink.  
  
Hisoka nodded. "Do you get a lot of work?" he asked, curiously.  
  
"A fair bit," the boy admitted, embarrassed.  
  
"He's always missing school due to work, I don't know how he manages to pass his classes," confided his sister.  
  
Hisoka wasn't quite sure what to say to that.  
  
Fortunately, Subaru said it for him. "Hokuto-chan!" he protested, turning red.  
  
Hisoka felt Tsuzuki walking up behind him and turned around to look at him expectantly.   
  
"Oh, Sumeragi-san!" said the other shinigami. "Good afternoon."  
  
"Sumeragi Hokuto de~su!"[2] said Hokuto, swinging around her brother to get a good look at the newcomer.   
  
Tsuzuki gave a polite bow. "Asato Tsuzuki, pleased to meet you." He turned to Hisoka. "Are you okay? You just suddenly ran off."  
  
Hisoka felt himself starting to blush again. "I'm okay. Just... too many people." He looked away swiftly, just in time to catch Hokuto going all starry eyed. He wasn't sure he wanted to know why.  
  
They took their leave of the twins amiably, and made their way to a quiet place to talk.  
  
"So, did you confirm anything?" asked Hisoka.  
  
Tsuzuki nodded. "She definitely bought her fish on Thursday, not Friday. The shop owner knows her quite well. But I don't know that it proves anything or not. None of the people in the supermarket knew anything. And we still don't know where she _was_, if she wasn't shopping."  
  
"I think she was having an affair with Katsuki."  
  
Tsuzuki stared at him. "What?"  
  
"Well, you saw the way she was acting around you, and she had a very strange reaction to when you said you were investigating Katsuki's death. She finds the topic extremely painful."  
  
"But if that's so... She had a motive for wanting her own husband dead..." said Tsuzuki, hesitantly.  
  
Hisoka stared at him. "Idiots! We're both idiots!"  
  
Tsuzuki blinked. "What?"  
  
"We've been assuming that Sawaki's death was a cover of Katsuki's, but what if it was the other way around? We've missed the important question, which is who was killed first!"  
  
"And by whom," added Tsuzuki. "If it was Sawaki's wife, why would she kill Katsuki too? It doesn't make sense."   
  
"True," said Hisoka. He frowned.  
  
"The printout doesn't have the time of death on it?"  
  
Hisoka rifled through the sheaf of papers. "Not that I remember... Oh, here it is." He read the times to himself. Blinking, he grabbed the printout of the case for Katsuki and checked the time on that. "Tsuzuki... Both these men died at the same time. According to this."  
  
They looked at each other.  
  
--  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
**Footnotes:  
**[1]: _Fishmonger_ - where does one buy fish, anyway?**  
**[2]: "Sumeragi Hokuto de~su!" Sorry for the Japanese, but that's the way I saw her saying it, with a long drawn out "desu". The word itself is almost meaningless - she's just introducing herself. 


End file.
